Martial Arts, the word martial means "warlike" so martial arts basically means "warlike arts". If this is so then why does it seem that your local Karate dojo isn't very warlike? What has happened to martial arts over the years. Money happened. What happens when someone sees easy money on the horizon? They do whatever they can to get it. You might notice that when you sign up for your martial arts classes that the price per month is quite high. Yes I have seen martial arts instructors charging as mush as $150 a month! Not to mention you have to pay for each new rank that you advance to plus the new belt or other accessories.

Its not just the money but its the way they draw in new students. When everyone thinks about martial arts they visualize alot of glamorous trophies and colorful belts, but no one ever visualizes the hard work dedication and self-dicipline that really goes into the martial arts. These in themselves are very satisfying aspects of martial arts. Martial arts used to be about self improvement, in many aspects. In some places it still is. The problem is that most of what you are paying for are these material items which in reality only look good on a shelf.

When I began learning the martial arts it was all about making the best person possible out of all the students. We didn't scrape at the next level just so we could get that next belt. "A belt is meant to hold up your pants" thats about it. To me a black belt is just a way that you can determine who you should talk to regarding the arts, but in today's martial arts one black belt may have earned his through hard work and another from a different school has just not knowingly bought his way through the ranks. These belt sellers have no concern if they are teaching you properly, they just want to make sure you don't know any better. Poor quality students water down the historical arts, and eventually the lack of dicipline and proper teaching has led to a complete misteaching of the arts.

I hope that my article can become food for thought to all martial artists out there, remember what martial arts is all about. Don't focus on your next belt, focus on being the very best you can be at your current level and the next rank will come. You will be better for it and so will the martial arts.

Tags & Keywords : Martial Arts, Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Aikido, Ninjutsu.